MEng, BEng Civil and Structural Engineering

Year 4

(Award available for year: Master of Engg & Bach of Engg)

Learning outcomes

On completion of the year/programme students should have provided evidence of being able to:

• demonstrate in-depth, specialist knowledge and mastery of techniques relevant to civil and structural engineering and/or to demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of concepts, information and techniques at the forefront of the discipline;
• exhibit mastery in the exercise of generic and subject-specific intellectual abilities;
• demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of techniques applicable to their own research or advanced scholarship;
• take a proactive and self-reflective role in working and to develop professional relationships with others;
• proactively to formulate ideas and hypotheses and to develop, implement and execute plans by which to evaluate these;
• critically and creatively evaluate current issues, research and advanced scholarship in the discipline.


Students will have:
Knowledge and Understanding of:
• the mathematical principles necessary to underpin their education in civil and structural engineering and to enable them to apply mathematical methods, tools and notations proficiently in the analysis and solution of multi-disciplinary engineering problems;
• properties, behaviour and use of relevant materials in civil and structural engineering;
• management techniques which may be used to achieve civil and structural engineering objectives within that context;
• the role of codes of practice in design;
• principles and implementation of advanced design techniques specific to civil and structural engineering;
• mathematical and computer models relevant to civil and structural engineering, and an appreciation of their limitations;
• the role of the professional civil and structural engineer in society, including health, safety, environmental, sustainability, ethical issues and risk assessment;
• the wider multidisciplinary engineering context and its underlying principles;
• developing technologies related civil and structural engineering and the ability to develop critiques of them;
• the framework of relevant requirements governing civil and structural engineering activities, including personnel, health, safety, and risk issues (an awareness of);
• advanced design processes and methodologies and the ability to adapt them in unfamiliar situations.

Ability to:
• demonstrate self-learning and competence in identifying, defining and solving civil and structural engineering problems;
• apply appropriate mathematical and computer-cased methods for modelling and analysing civil and structural engineering
• problems and appreciate their limitations;
• extract data pertinent to an unfamiliar problem, and apply its solution using computer based engineering tools where appropriate;
• evaluate and integrate information and processes in project work;
• understand the use of technical literature and other information sources;
• critically evaluate current research or equivalent scholarship that may be relevant in design problem solving;
• comprehend the broad picture and thus work with an appropriate level of detail;
• use creativity to establish innovative solutions;
• demonstrate creative and innovative ability in the synthesis of solutions and in formulating designs;
• have the ability to extract data pertinent to an unfamiliar problem, and apply its solution using computer based engineering tools when appropriate.

The Practical Skills to:
• use laboratory and field equipment competently and safely;
• observe, record, process and analyse data from the laboratory and field;
• use computational tools and packages to optimise design solutions;
• prepare technical reports and give technical presentations to communicate information to both specialist and non-specialist audiences;
• prepare technical drawings, both manually and using CAD;
• generate innovative designs.

Transferable (key) skills

The Key Skills to:
• communicate effectively using written, oral and graphical skills and to be able to sustain arguments;
• use mathematical skills appropriate to a civil and structural engineer;
• work independently and be capable of self-learning;
• work in a team environment;
• manage workloads and time effectively;
• work with limited or contradictory information and have an appreciation on the limits of knowledge;
• monitor, plan and reflect upon personal, educational and career development (Personal Development Planning);
• exercise initiative and personal responsibility;
Students will have had the opportunity to acquire, as defined in the modules specified for the programme:

• the transferable/key/generic skills necessary for employment related to the area(s) studied;
• the exercise of initiative and personal responsibility;
• the deployment of decision making skills in complex and unpredictable situations;
• the communication of information, ideas, problems and solutions in a variety of ways to a variety of audiences;
• the ability to undertake appropriate further training of a professional or equivalent nature;

Assessment

Achievement for the degree will be assessed by a variety of methods in accordance with the learning outcomes of the modules specified for the year/programme and will involve the achievement of the students in:

• evidencing an ability to conduct independent in-depth enquiry within the discipline;
• demonstrating the ability to apply breadth and/or depth of knowledge to a complex specialist area;
• drawing on a range of perspectives on an area of study;
• evaluating and criticising received opinion;
• make reasoned judgements whilst understanding the limitations on judgements made in the absence of complete data.